20 



"The Hawaiian Coffee Planters' Manual, which was printed 

 in 1894, on page 41, qiiotino^ from Ferguson's Directory of Cey- 

 lon, says: Tn the early days, black bug or blight affected the 

 coffee plant very seriously, but who hears of blight now? One 

 hundred thousand acres liave been planted . . . and the 

 area affected by iuig has been most trifling. But the place has 

 been more than filled b\ the most terrible of all diseases, Hemi- 

 Icia rastatrix, or coffee leaf disease.' 



"In the pamphlet by Nietner, which I have mentioned above, 

 the losses up to 18S0 attributed to scale insects are given as 

 £125,000, while die editor says the Hemileia caused losses of 

 over £ 12,000,000. 



"From the foregoing statements I think you will get some idea 

 of my opinion relative to the green scale scare. I do not doubt 

 but that, if this insect should become thoroughly established, it 

 would cause great loss, but the rather extravagant statements re- 

 ferred to seem to me unwarranted, and the>^ might result in caus- 

 ing alarm to the coffee growers if allowed to go unchallenged." 



Yours verv truly, 



WALTER FF EVANS, 



Chief of Insular Stations. 



ORRIS ROOT CULTURE. 



Referring to the very large number of inquiries received at the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture in regard to the subject of orris 

 root cultivation in the United States, Prof. Rodney H. True, 

 Physiologist in Charge of Drug Plant Investigations, Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, makes the followdng statement : 



As is well known, the orris root of commerce is grown almost 

 exclusively in Italy, the chief centers of production being at Flor- 

 ence and Verona. The plants yielding this article are the com- 

 mon species of Iris, especially /. florentina, L gcrinanica, and /. pal- 

 lida, cultivated widely as the common fleur-de-lis of many gardens. 

 In many letters, advertisements are cited in which the cultiva- 

 tion of orris root is boomed as a quick road to wealth, and the 

 conditions of the market are described in glowing but entirely 



